Push (2009)

One push can change everything.

How do you make a movie of teens with psi powers being chased by ruthless villains devoid of interest?  This movie shows you how.

director: Paul McGuigan

actors:  Chris Evans (Nick Grant); Dakota Fanning (Cassie Holmes)

plot:  Americans Nick and teen Cassie have psi powers who are seeking to destroy the Division, a covert government agency bent on turning powered young people into super soldiers.  Nick and Cassie learn about another young woman who has survived the Division’s usually fatal experiments, and they include finding her as one of their many objectives.

My take:  The Hong Kong setting is vibrant and rough-edged, the character histories are arresting, the acting is passable.  The story faltered and fell flat on its face but popped up and pretended that it hadn’t happened.

In essence, the heroes don’t clear their levels but they get a free pass to the final cut scene anyway.  What’s worse is that they are nonchalant about it, and considering the gravity with which their tale began, it’s just aggravating.

But here’s the good part:

Watchers:  prophets, seers, precognition.

Movers: telekinesis.

Pushers: implant memories.

Bleeders:  super screamers, like the movie Scanners only sillier.

Sniffs: psychometrics.  trackers.

Shifters: illusionists.

Wipers: of memories.

Shadows:  psychic camouflage.

Stitches:  medic, healer.

Tidbits:  I think there’s a comic book which would probably be better.

Conclusion:  You could be forgiven for really liking this movie, it’s a like a preview for another very entertaining movie.

Reviews:

ReelViews – link – positive

Roger Ebert – link – negative & funny about it

AV Club – link – positive

Chud – link – negative

Film Jerk – link – negative

Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)

Image by Thomas Roche via Flickr

Same Planet. Different World.

director:  Eric Brevig

actors:  Brendan Frasier (Trevor Anderson) , Josh Hutcherson (Sean), Anita Briem (Hannah)

opening:  My heart still belongs to the somewhat dopey 1959 version with Gertrude the duck.  But this version sticks closer to the original novel.

plot:  A benignly mad volcanologist Anderson and his nephew Sean travel to Iceland to find the center of the earth.  In Iceland, they acquire their skeptical guide, Hannah to lead them to the amazing underground world.

my take:  It’s a pity that they do stick closer to the original because it was dry read as I recall.  They could have souped it up a bit.  It is a visually attractive film – the “ocean” voyage was particularly impressive.  There are a few caving jokes that made my caving friend laugh, so that’s a plus.  It’s also family friendly (some of the sexual tension between James Mason and Arlene Dahl is a bit weird nowadays).  Frasier and Briem cause any trouble in that way.  Sean and Trevor seem to fit better as would be adventurers – if the film hadn’t kowtowed to the special effects department and upped the two-guys-seriously-adventuring vibe, it might have worked.

tidbits:  My caving friend stated that the rappelling that Trevor does in the movie is very difficult and it was very impressive.

It was originally scripted by Paul Chart but he left the project which doomed it.

Conclusion:  It was OK, innocuous but not worth making.

Reviews:

Reel View link – negative

Roger Ebert link – indifferent

Salon.com link – positive

Flick Filosopher – link – positive

Christian Science Monitor – link – negative

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Dictionary of Fun

I participated in Encyclopedia of Me blog carnival hosted by Bella Dia a few years ago.  Now Kat from Kat’s Weblog and Beffer from Befflets are going to post about 26 fun things to do.

New!  Crazybay from crazybay46913 has joined our Dictionary of Fun.

ABC page—

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

B is for Casual Gaming from crazybay

D is for Daydreaming from moonlitgarden

D is for Doctor Who from befflets

I is for Internet from kat’s weblog

run of bad movie choices at an end…

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve had a run of bad movie picks.  These three I only watched half or fast-forwarded through to the end:  If a Man Answers (1962-antiquated, trite), Emmanuelle (1974-antiquated, idiotic), Love and Other Drugs (2010-mismarketed, repulsive).

Then I watched The Ugly Truth (2009)  – Passable, though the objections to the withered romantic comedy conventions and the anti-woman themes are valid.

All the characters repeated that the female lead Abby was smart which they had to do because she was the dumbest chick ever.  Worse than Sugar in Some Like it Hot.

How I would have changed it:

#1 Make something about Abby likable.  Something. Even Mike had his relationship with his nephew.

#2  Make her problem with men not that she’s so stupid but that she manipulates them the way she does everyone at work.  Thus, she feels contempt rather than affection for her dates.  Mike comes along and refuses to be manipulated and she likes that.

#3  Mike has to have some reason that he loves her.  Elizabeth didn’t accept Darcy’s “I love you against my will” proposal and neither should Abby.

#4 Make the funny parts funny.  Why couldn’t she have come up with a good pitch while wearing the vibrating panties,  why couldn’t the baseball date been about her faking sports knowledge, why couldn’t she be funnier when stalking her neighbor, why couldn’t she and Mike have better banter (or any banter)???

#5 What on earth was the stupid thing about ponytails being unsexy? There might any number of reasons that men would reject these women but I don’t think it’s their hairstyle.

All in all, a sad waste of Mr. Butler.

But finally, my luck has turned with Pushing Daisies season 2 and Zombieland.

Pushing Daisies was no surprise as I thoroughly enjoyed season one.  This is much the same and just as good.  The dialog is almost too much fun.  The plots are quirky to max, and at the same time poignant and grotesque and very funny.  Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) is probably my favorite character, although I like Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth) a lot too.  It’s a pity most of my favorite shows are so short.

Zombieland – I enjoyed this movie.  It wasn’t quite the (Shaun of the Dead) comedy I was expecting – more like a road movie with zombies.  Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg are not my favorite actors but they were perfectly cast for this movie.

quick list of what I liked about it

1. Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine)

2. The List

3.  Columbus’ cowardice in general

4. snoballs

5. Bill Murray

6.  could watch it with friends who don’t like horror movies

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Film Actors who Died in 2010

Art Linkletter (1912 — 2010)  Radio and TV personality. Kids Say the Darndest Things

Kevin McCarthy (1914-2010) Actor. Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Lena Horne (1917-2010) Actress, Singer.  Stormy Weather.

Tony Curtis (1925-2010)  Actor.   Some Like It Hot, Houdini, Defiant Ones, The Vikings, Spartacus, Operation Petticoat, The Great Imposter.

Dorothy De Borba (1925-2010) Child actress. Dorothy in  Our Gang.

Peter Graves (1926-2010) Actor.  TV’s Mission Impossible, Fantasy Island, 7th Heaven. Films Airplane! and Clonus Horror

Lionel Jeffries (1926-2010) Actor.  Camelot; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010) Actor.  Forbidden Planet; Airplane!; The Naked Gun

Tom Bosley (1927-2010)  Actor.  Happy Days; Father Dowling Mysteries

Eddie Fisher (1928-2010) Singer. Appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, Dean Martin Comedy Hour, Andy Williams Show. Father of Carrie Fisher.

Ilene Woods (1929 – 2010) Singer, actress. Voiced Disney’s Cinderella.

Jean Simmons (1929-2010) Actress. Elmer Gantry, Hamlet (1948), Désirée, Guys and Dolls, The Big Country.  Voiced Grandma/Old Sophie  in Howl’s Moving Castle.

Robert Culp (1930-2010) Actor. I, Spy, Greatest American Hero, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

Zelda Rubinstein (1933-2010)  Actress.  Poltergeist and sequels.

Cammie King (1934-2010) Actress.  Gone With the Wind. Voiced Faline in Disney’s Bambi.

Rue McClanahan (1934-2010) Actress.  Golden Girls.

Corey Allen (1934-2010) Actor, Director.  Star Trek franchise, Dallas

Dennis Hopper (1936-2010) Actor.  Easy Rider, True Romance, Speed,  TV Crash, TV 24, Rebel Without a Cause

James MacArthur (1937-2010)  Actor.  Swiss Family Robinson, Hawaii Five-0 (1968), The Young Stranger

Michael Pataki (1938-2010) Actor.  Happy Days, 1980s Mighty Mouse, 1970s Amazing Spider-Man, Ren & Stimpy

Pat Stevens (1945-2010) Actress.  Voice of Velma in 1970s Scooby-Doo and TV M*A*S*H.

Michelle Nicastro (1960 –  2010)  Singer, Actress.   Voice of Odette in the Swan Princess and sequels.  Ariadne in Merlin, Eponine  in Les Miserables

Shannon Tavarez (1999 – 2010) Actress.  Young Nala on Broadway

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• The ones we lost in 2010 (kathybrakhage.blogspot.com)